Carfax saved my a$$ (LAC per se)

[William Magliocco]

Here is my testimonial:

8/02-wife is rear ended in my 1993 Audi 100.  Pix
available at home.earthlink.net/~wmagliocco/wreck

Tough slog ahead with Kemper insurance.  Wife needs
wheels.  

I pick up the local Cox fishwrapper and spy a 1997 VW
Passat TDI, black & loaded.  Go across town and look
at it.  

Owner seems a little odd.  Romaninan fellow, meets me
at a gas station near Hartsfield airport.  Uses cell
phone # in ad.  I like car, but I thought $8000 was a
little high, and that car pulled a tad.

Take a 2nd look the following day.  Go to different
gas station in another part of town much further from
where I live.  Tell owner ahead of time to have a
photocopy of title ready.  Bank is ready willing &
able to produce loan.  Car still pulls on 2nd test
drive but "Serban" tells me it is the tires.

The next morning, prior to going to my bank to
consumate the loan, I decide to spend the $ and use
Carfax.

Am I glad I did that!  Car was in a total loss wreck
1/01 in central GA, and retitled as salvage at that
point.  9 mos. later car had another title issued
(non-salvage) in suburban ATL GA.  In GA you cannot
drive a car that holds a current salvage title. 
Insurance won't issue a check in a total loss scenario
unless they take title and have it marked as salvage.

Wrote nasty letter to owner backing out of deal, which
is available @
http://home.earthlink.net/~wmagliocco/wreck/serban0809.doc

After receiving said letter, the owner called back to
try and sweet talk me into changing my mind.  Makes
one little mistake.  Calls me from his home phone,
which I reverse trace to where he actually resides
(nr. 2nd gas station).  Took a little jaunt out there
to find that the man had at least _ten_ cars on the
property in various states of repair, including a
Passat with a primer red roof.  Steve Jensen is my
witness.

Turns out he has a "buddy" nearby that runs a little
collision shop at same interstate exit where he
resides.  Another Romaninan guy.  Said collision shop
has no signage whatsoever to communicate with the
public.  None...Rather, the owner buys insurance
wrecks and fixes them up for eventual sale.  

Turns out my ATL Amigo Steve Jensen knew the guy that
ran the collision shop and suggested I take the 100
over there.  The owner was not at all interested in
working on it (though his small lot was full of V-A-G
wrecks as well as BMWs and other expen$ive foreign
iron)...

And who should I meet over at this "unmarked"
collision shop but Mr. Serban himself...in a beautiful
looking Jag ragtop.  Of course he had to interject
that the Passat was still available.

Funny part is that I looked at the car 8/02 and he was
still trying to pawn it off 7/03.  I damn near died
when I read that ad in the Cox fishwrapper.

Long story short-maybe CarFax does not appear to be
worth the $ if you find a car with a clean history...I
felt that way too.  But if you DO run across one of
these a$$holes that is trying to rip you off, it can
save you the nightmare of finding out you indeed
bought a wreck and got the old screw-job.

Ended up buying wife a '98 Jetta TDI that has been
fine for the last 18 mos. from a dealer that does use
Carfax to evaluate trades but also knows where he is
getting his cars from.

Sorry for the BW, just thought I would give you my
thoughts.



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